Over 90% of email is unsolicited and unwanted. Junk emails flood the electronic delivery system with messages that we just don’t want and phishing schemes fool millions each year. These abuses waste time and resources and are one of the biggest productivity drains that businesses face.
Unfortunately, you can’t get rid of all spam but you can manage the problem and protect your business from incidental damage. Make sure you have a clear email policy and train users so they don’t fall for spam tricks.
1. Use a Spam Filter – although spammers work on beating the filter, this is your best first defense.
2. Never reply to spam, not even to unsubscribe – often this just confirms your email is valid.
3. Disable automatic downloading of HTML pictures – spammers get confirmation that you opened the message if the graphics (pictures) are downloaded.
4. Don’t participate in chain emails – these often harvest email address and many recipients find them irritating.
5. Don’t respond to email requests that ask for personal information or money – this is the most common phishing scam.
6. Use privacy settings on your accounts – especially for social media sites, don’t publically list your email address.
7. Use care when giving your email – if you list your email on any site (or on your business card) remember it increases your chances of being spammed.
8. Don’t spam others – if you have a eNewsletter or send email information be sure you follow proper protocol and allow your recipients to easily unsubscribe.
9. Turn off read and delivery receipts and automatic response to meeting requests – these responses are used to validate your email address.
10. If you receive spam in your inbox, you can forward it with the proper header to uce@ftc.gov.
If you have suggestions or would like to share your experiences with spam, please feel free to contact me.
My journey has taken me many places I never imagined - from a family driving school business, to a dairy farm, to an engineering degree, to parenting two teenage girls. My first position after completing my electrical engineering degree was at Commonwealth Edison in transmission line design. After returning to Atlanta, I accepted a temporary position as a support engineer at Advanced Control Systems. It was a 3-month contract that lasted 10 years and I was promoted to department manager at ACS.. Now at LAN Systems, I still devote myself to providing support without compromise. My goal is to make LAN Systems known to all as the best IT Solutions and Service provider in the metro Atlanta area. Still committed to providing exceptional support that serves the needs of the people that use technology, I work with our engineers to improve their problem solving and interpersonal skills. In addition to my responsibilities with LAN Systems, I volunteer with several non-profits that serve the electric utility industry and introduce engineering as a career to young people.Technology is almost as awesome as people and look forward to exploring many “technology for the people” topics at AtlantaSmall.biz.
Good list of simple, but easy to forget tips to reduce email spam.
I’ll disagree with putting your email address on your business card, think it needs to be there. But say if you’re replying to a LinkedIn request from a stranger.. or really any social networking platform, select the option that hides your email (or deselect the options that lets parties view email addresses).
Another tip: DON’T create a catch all for email for your domain such as info@ or feedback@; those are also commonly used for spamming schemes. FWIW.